Catheter balloon mold form and molding process
AssigneeBoston Scientific Scimed, Inc.
InventorsKen Xiao Kang Zhang, Jeffrey S. Lindquist, Victor L. Schoenle, Scott Schewe, David Parsons, Nao Lee, Ying Xiong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An immersion mold for a medical device balloon. The mold has a cavity adapted to receive a hollow parison expandable therein to form the balloon. The cavity has a length, a first end, a second end, and a cavity wall with inner and outer surfaces. The mold form cavity wall is provided with one or a plurality of through-holes along the length thereof to facilitate entrance and egress of a heated fluid.
Claims18
A method of forming a medical device comprising the steps of placing a parison in a mold having a cavity with a wall form substantially conforming to the desired shape of said device,
- immersing the mold in a heated liquid fluid to heat the parison, and
- pressurizing the parison to radially expand the parison to contact the walls of the mold cavity,
- wherein the mold cavity wall contains at least one through-hole therein through which the heated liquid fluid enters the mold cavity to directly contact the parison when the mold is immersed in the heated fluid and through which heated liquid fluid that has entered the mold cavity is expelled therefrom when the parison is radially expanded, the at least one through-hole havin a first dimension of at least about 0.1 mm and a second dimension of at least about 0.2 mm.
A method of forming a medical device comprising the steps of placing a parison in a mold having a cavity with a wall form substantially conforming to the desired shape of said device,
- immersing the mold in a heated liquid fluid to heat the parison, and
- pressurizing the parison to radially expand the parison to contact the walls of the mold cavity,
- wherein the mold cavity wall contains at least one through-hole therein through which the heated liquid fluid enters the mold cavity to directly contact the parison when the mold is immersed in the heated fluid and through which heated liquid fluid that has entered the mold cavity is expelled therefrom when the parison is radially expanded, the at least one through-hole being substantially circular and having a diameter of at least about 0.1 mm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.